Alternate Season 5: 5x5: Witness Protection
by Colinsand
Summary: When Gunn is given a case in another dimension the job of protecting the key witness falls to Jack Gibson, head of Wolfram and Hart Security. As Gunn and the witness head to court in another world an assassin pursues, determined to kill the witness.
1. Overture

AUTHORS NOTE: This is the fifth Episode of my Alternate Season Five Series. As such there are references and elements continuing from the previous episodes.

Please do review, comments, good and bad are very much appreciated.

**OVERTURE**

With a satisfying pop Charlie Watts opened himself another can of beer and took a long sip of the cool liquid. He closed the refrigerator and returned to the living room. He was in a modest-sized but lavishly furnished apartment in downtown Los Angeles. Charlie sat himself down in front of the massive 50-inch plasma-screen television as the football game he was watching resumed.

He took another swig of beer and then groaned in disappointment as a player on the opposing team made a spectacular pass interception. Charlie was leaning forward, his fingers scooping out a handful of chips from a large glass bowl.

There was a quick, loud knocking at the door. Charlie looked over; that would be the pizza he'd ordered. He was surprised how fast they'd got here. He got up, went to the door and opened it. On the door were metallic numerals: 1717.

"That was qui..."

It wasn't the pizza delivery.

Before be could do anything he was punched, his nose breaking with a crunch. This was swiftly followed by a knife being plunged into his neck, silencing his attempt to cry out forever.

He fell back and flopped sideways knocking over the small table where the phone was sitting. Bills, papers, the phone, and business cards scattered across the floor

--------------------------

Charles Gunn was still at the office hours after home-time, hard at work preparing for court. A big trial was due to begin in the morning and he wanted to make sure that he was absolutely prepared for his opening statement. He flicked through the pages of one of the witness statements, looking an idea that he could use as part of his laying out of the case he intended to present.

There was a loud knock at his office door. Gunn sighed and looked up. He really didn't have time for distractions right now. He hoped that it would be something that could be quickly dealt with. "Come in," he called as he resumed scanning over the statement. He heard the door open and the sound of someone coming in. "Take a seat. I'll be with you in a second," Gunn held up a finger. He quickly made a note and flipped over the page. Then he looked up at his visitor, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of his desk.

Gunn froze, astonished.

"Good to see the firm's in such capable hands." The visitor grinned.

Gunn remained speechless.

"The Senior Partners have a very important job for you Mr Gunn," said Lilah Morgan.


	2. Act One

**ACT ONE**

Stunned silence was Gunn's immediate response.

"Just the reaction I was hoping for," she said with a sly smile, "I had a good feeling about you when the Partners decided you were the man to be blessed with their little gift."

"Lilah. Can't say I ever thought I'd ever see you again." She looked just as she had last time he had seen her. Death it seemed had not been detrimental to her looks. She was wearing an expensive black suit jacket with a matching knee-length skirt, and around her neck was the white scarf that hid her scar.

"No time for idle chit-chat I'm afraid, the Partners have decided you're the man for a very important job."

"What kind of job?"

"A legal one obviously. It's time to put that upgrade of yours to good use." She tapped the side of her head. "We have a Nem'Cyle Tribunal coming up. You know what that is, right?"

"Nem'Cyle law is the third most common legal system governing inter-dimensional and demonic relations."

"Correct, now, Wolfram and Hart are contracted to participate in a Nem'Cyle Tribunal every two years. This year the firm has been assigned to prosecute a case.

Gunn raised his eyebrows. "You want me to act as prosecutor? You know I've never prosecuted anything..."

"You possess the necessary knowledge. You understand what is being asked of you?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent, now there is one thorny additional issue that has... complicated things."

"Wouldn't be any fun if there wasn't," he sighed.

"Someone has managed to kill two of the witnesses from this world that were due to give testimony. There is one last witness on Earth and he is on his way here, should arrive in the next hour or so. It is imperative that he makes it to the Tribunal, its been made very clear that this guy is key to the whole case."

"Great. Any idea who's behind the hits?"

"The defense perhaps?" Lilah deadpanned. "No ID on the assassin, or assassins, but the work is very professional. You leave tomorrow afternoon, two-fifteen." She placed a thin manila folder on his desk and slid it towards him. "All the information you need is in there. I cannot stress how important this case is to the Partners. Failure is not an option, success on the other hand will definitely put you in a good light as far as they are concerned." Lilah stood. "Well, good luck Mr Gunn."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Everything you need to know is in the file. Keep the witness alive, win the case." She turned and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Gunn sat for a moment, staring at the folder. Work at Wolfram and Hart so far had been far from easy, but this was definitely going to be his biggest challenge yet.

--------------------------

"A Nem'cycling what?" Angel asked from his exceptionally comfortable executive leather chair.

"A Nem'Cyle Tribunal." Gunn repeated, he was standing on the other side of Angel's desk. "This contract," Gunn handed Angel a piece of paper, "binds Wolfram and Hart to participate in a Tribunal every two years." Angel looked over the contract. "Since the L.A. Office holds top position among the global branches we get the job."

"That's a good thing?"

"Yes and no." Gunn replied. "Yes because doing this gets us a lot, and I mean a lot, of kudos with the Senior Partners. On the other hand... It does mean I'm going to have to travel to the Tribunal, I could be away for a month or longer."

"A month?"

"Yeah, some have been known to last for five months, usually it's a month." Gunn hoped that this Tribunal would prove to be one of the shorter varieties. "There is a lot of ceremony and under Nem'Cyle law the legal team for both sides is not made aware of any of the case details before the Tribunal."

"So you don't even know what crime you're prosecuting?"

"Nope, in the opening session both the defense and prosecution will be informed of the charges and be presented with the relevant evidence. We then get some time, which varies depending on the complexity of the case, to go over the evidence and conduct interviews."

"Interesting system."

"Yeah, there are a few finer points I'm going to have to read up on tonight. There is one other thing. We're going to be taking protective custody of a witness. Originally there were three witnesses located here, but someone's managed to kill two of them. The last witness should be arriving here within the hour. It's part of our job to make sure that this witness makes it to the Tribunal alive. Tomorrow afternoon at two-fifteen myself, the witness and a Nem'Cyle official will travel to the Nem'Cyle dimension. However I think that we have an escort with us just in case the assassin tries to attack while we're in transit to the portal site. Inside this building the witness will be safe, and once in the Nem'Cyle dimension they will be protected with some serious mystical power. Hitting us while traveling is the assassin's best shot."

"I'll have security arrange for full protection while the witness is in the building and during transport. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"I think that covers it, oh," Gunn handed Angel another piece of paper. "This is your agreement that the L.A. Branch is taking the job."

Angel looked over it. "I take it once I sign this I'm completely responsible if something goes wrong."

Gunn nodded. "Yeah, but this is something we can definitely handle. As long as we get the security right I'll be able to handle the rest." _Probably_, he didn't add

Angel took a pen off his desk and signed the agreement.

--------------------------

Wesley had spent the last few days on the road. He had been out following up on a lead on Mal'Klan. Right back when he had been starting his investigation into Mal'Klan he had sent out a general query to his contacts. Three days ago Rupert Giles had forwarded him some information on a Mal'Klan related text. Wesley had been trying to track it down since then. He had been all over California looking for it.

Finally it had turned up in the possession of an antiques dealer in a small town just outside of San Diego. Wesley had bought it, however after careful study and several hours working on translating the relevant paragraphs he found that it was not as useful as he had hoped it would be. The text had contained four paragraphs about Mal'Klan and had revealed nothing new. It seemed to reaffirm the notion that Mal'Klan had been destroyed during the Demon Wars.

It had been a waste of time. Time that could have been far better spent. He had hoped to spend as much time as possible with Fred. He considered calling her but decided that it would be best not to risk waking her if she was asleep.

Tonight he was expecting progress with the Mal'Klan situation. At midnight Imogen was finally due to call; it was exactly two weeks since he had met her. Wesley hoped that she would be able to shed some light on the Mal'Klan mystery.

--------------------------

Angel, Gunn, Jack Gibson and four heavily armed guards were waiting in the lobby of the Wolfram and Hart building; the witness was due to arrive any minute.

"Any idea what the witness looks like?" Angel asked.

Gunn shook his head. "Don't even know if it's a guy or a girl."

Gibson and his team were constantly looking around, looking for any indication of trouble.

Gunn looked at his watch. The witness was late. He hoped that this was not a bad sign and that the unknown assassin or assassins hadn't managed to get to them.

"How's the arm?"

Angel held up his right arm, which was bound in bandages. "Fingers are still healing, Doc's keeping the whole area numb, but it still kinda hurts."

The recovery had been very painful. Dr Hartley had explained that the worst of the pain was due to his regrowing nerves. The regular injections to numb the area helped a great deal.

"Sirs," Gibson motioned to the doors. A taxi had just pulled up outside.

"They came in a cab?" Gunn raised his eyebrows in surprise. Three figures got out of the cab.

Two of them were in turquoise kimono-like robes and matching pants that were flared at the bottom. They were demons. Their faces were cat-like; flat black nose, narrow-irised eyes and a small mouth. Their furred skin had a pleasant green tint to it. Both demons were tall, about six foot three inches. One of them had a large sword in a gold decorated scabbard hanging from his belt. The other was carrying a dark brown leather satchel.

The third figure was human. He was a young man, about twenty-five, with short dark hair. He was wearing a black t-shirt with the words 'Come Sail Away' on it in white lettering, and blue jeans.

The trio entered the building. The young man was clearly relieved to have arrived. "Welcome to Wolfram and Hart," Angel greeted.

"Good health to you," the demon with the satchel said and bowed slightly. "I am Orsa, representative of the Nem'Cyle Tribunal. This is my guard Tol'el." The other demon, who looked more muscular, was looking around the lobby. "And this is Calvin, our witness."

"I'm Charles Gunn, good health to you all," he said, mentioning the standard Nem'Cyle greeting. He bowed to Orsa. "Allow me to introduce Jack Gibson, our head of security who will be personally overseeing the protection detail."

"I'm sure we are in excellent hands, I understand that you have been fully briefed on Tribunal procedure?"

"That's correct." Gunn nodded.

"I will emphasize you are not to be alone with Calvin at any time. You are not to discuss the case with him in any way."

"Understood. We have a room here for you to stay tonight."

"Our secure suite," Gibson added.

"But first our doctor is waiting to assist with the Resi," Gunn said.

Orsa nodded. "Then let us proceed."

--------------------------

Calvin was sitting on one of the beds in the main area of the Wolfram and Hart infirmary. Orsa, Tol'el and Gibson were close by.

Angel and Gunn were standing on the other side of the room. "So what's going on here?" Angel asked.

"Calvin is going to be implanted with a Resi. Basically it will make him invulnerable."

"Invulnerable?"

"While in the Nem'Cyle dimension he will be mystically protected. Once we get there he will be completely safe, any assassin will not be able to kill him."

"Cool, any chance of getting me one?" Angel liked the sound of something that would make him invulnerable.

"No, it only works in certain metaphysical conditions. And anyway Resi are very rare and mystically take a lot of power to create."

"Okay, I think we're ready to begin," Dr Hartley smiled.

"Is this going to hurt?" Calvin asked nervously.

"Yes." Calvin's face fell. "But not much. Well. Not for long anyway," Hartley quickly added.

"Great."

"It is a necessary precaution," Orsa said. "Particularly with an assassin on the loose."

Calvin nodded. Orsa took a shiny copper-colored sphere the size of a golf ball from his satchel. Hartley drew a curtain around the bed.

--------------------------

Wesley decided there was no point in going home.

He pulled into the parking lot of a small twenty-four hour diner. Imogen was due to call in fifteen minutes time. Wes went into the diner and sat in a booth by the window. He ordered a cup of coffee and took out a thick A4 notebook. These were his notes on Mal'Klan so far. In them there was no reference at all to Imogen or her brother. As agreed he had made no note about her and had told only Angel.

Wes opened the book. All evidence that he had accumulated so far pointed to Mal'Klan being long dead. His followers had tried in vein to bring him back, refusing to believe he had truly been destroyed. But all records showed that they too had died out thousands of years ago.

However Wesley had encountered followers, two of them, and Imogen had told him that they were very much still active.

He was still pondering through his notes when his cellphone rang. He glanced at his watch: midnight on the dot. He answered the phone. "Hello."

"I want you to go get a motel room, somewhere that you're not going to be overheard," Imogen said without so much as a hello. "I will call you back in exactly thirty minutes."

"Understood."

--------------------------

"Cool place," Calvin whistled looking around the large apartment appreciatively. "Great view too!"

"Those are actually TV screens," Gunn told him. "This room is right in the middle of the building. It is protected both physically and mystically with the most advanced measures we have."

"Impressive." Orsa nodded.

"It looks so real," Calvin said as he wandered over to the false windows.

"You should be able to find everything you need. Bedrooms are over there, the fridge is fully stocked in the kitchen, and the entertainment system is top of the line. I picked it out myself," he added with a grin. "If you need anything at all don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you very much Mr Gunn," Orsa said.

"Before we go I'd like to point out these," Gibson motioned to a red button on the wall. "There are twelve of these around the apartment. If pressed the guards outside will come in immediately. Don't worry about pressing one by mistake. Your safety is top priority."

"I think it would be wise for us all to retire for the night," Orsa said. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yeah," Calvin said noncommittally, continuing to look with great interest at the awesome looking entertainment system.

--------------------------

Wesley had gone to a very cheap motel and was currently enjoying the hospitality of room five. He was sitting on the grubby room's only chair at the tiny table. Imogen was going to call any second now. Wesley hoped that she was going to be providing significant information on the Mal'Klan investigation

The cellphone rang. "Hello."

"You in a quiet place?"

"Yes."

"Okay, this is an encrypted line so we're good to talk. Daniel was in contact with me today."

"How is he, it must be difficult for him," Wesley said.

"It is. I don't think he's telling me everything. All he would tell me about his initiation was that it was really bad." Imogen paused. "So far he's been running small errands, nothing major unfortunately."

Wesley's hope fell. Answers then were not going to be coming. "I've been looking further into Mal'Klan and everything still indicates that he was destroyed and that his followers are long extinct."

"Believe me, they are definitely not extinct," Imogen insisted. "My brother has been able to confirm that they are very much of the belief that they are on a mission to return Mal'Klan to Earth."

"How exactly is this return supposed to occur?"

"He doesn't know yet. They're pretty secretive. He thinks that the leader is the only one who knows entirely what's going on."

"Has he got a name for the leader?"

"No. He's working on it."

Wesley was frustrated. He had been expecting results after two weeks working but it seemed like Daniel had made little progress.

"This hasn't worked exactly to plan," Imogen conceded. "My brother and I had intended for him to quickly find out what the followers are up to and make a move to stop them. At the moment though it looks like his time undercover is going to be significantly extended. Daniel did say something that might give us a way to get some information. I'm...not sure though. It's very dangerous for him."

"At this point I suspect a lot of risks are going to be needed," Wesley said.

"He mentioned that tomorrow he is due to deliver a package. He told me the time and place. I told him it was too dangerous, that we couldn't do anything that might make the followers suspicious."

"But now you think otherwise."

Imogen was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know. I think with your help we could get the package without raising suspicion. But, there is still a chance..."

"What did you have in mind?"

--------------------------

Gunn was back in his office. He was going over all the information on Nem'Cyle Tribunals, refreshing his mind. The case was going to be his biggest challenge since coming to the firm, he really couldn't afford to mess it up in any way.

He looked at the time. It was after two in the morning. Gunn decided that he had to stop and go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, especially if the assassin tried to make things a whole lot more interesting.

--------------------------

Winifred Burkle was having lunch. Dr Hartley had insisted that she take at least a week and a half of rest and recovery time. Fred had been trying to keep herself busy since being released from the infirmary three days ago. She tried to keep her brain working. She thought of stuff that she had to do at work. She wrote out mathematical proofs. Fred had filled eight thick notebooks full of ideas and equations.

She didn't want to think about what had happened to her.

A few times perfectly innocent loud noises (Bang!) had sent her heart racing, and she had felt twinges of pain where the bullet had entered her head. Whenever she closed her eyes she had flashbacks:

The black-clad Gunman coming at her with the strange gun.

Rolling clouds; dark blue raging storms, racing to consume her.

Those images made her very reluctant to close her eyes. As a consequence she hadn't had much sleep. What little she'd had had been plagued by nightmares.

Randomly memories would suddenly pop into her mind. It was disconcerting and made her lose focus. It was so odd for her to find herself, for no reason at all, remembering moments from childhood, snippets of conversations throughout her life, birthdays, people, places and events.

Fred had the TV on. She didn't particularly care what she was watching, she just needed to keep her brain occupied. She was eating a lunch of cheese sandwiches. The news was on. Fred remembered a conversation with her collage roommate about whether or not it was a good idea to dye her hair bright pink.

The sound of the door buzzer brought her back from the flash of memory. Fred rubbed her tired eyes and got up from the couch to answer the door. "Wesley," she gave him a lethargic smile.

"Hi."

"Come in." Fred opened to door wide and closed it behind him once he'd entered. "You want something to eat? I just made myself some sandwiches so it's no trouble."

"No, thank you, I just ate," Wes said as they sat.

"How was the trip? Find out anything useful?" Fred asked and took a bite from her sandwich.

"Unfortunately not, I did manage to track down the text I was looking for but there was nothing in it. How are you doing?"

"Oh, you know, I'm fine," Fred shrugged.

"And how are you really doing?"

Fred gave him a small smile. "That obvious huh? I'm okay, a few headaches, and I haven't been getting much sleep."

"What about the flashbacks?"

"Still having them," she nodded, "but less often. I think as long as my brain's focused it don't wander too much."

"Is there anything you need?"

"No, not really, I went over to the store this morning," Fred replied. "Anything exciting going on over there? How's my department looking? Matthew keeps saying it's all under control..."

"They're muddling through," Wes said. "I'm sure they'll be able to keep things running until you're ready to come back." He looked out of the window at the gloriously sunny day. He then looked at Fred. _Beautiful_, he thought.

"Did I get food on my face?" She wiped her mouth.

"No, no...I was just wondering if you'd like to take a walk, the park maybe." It was a silly idea, he had a lot of work he needed to get done, as well as preparations for the operation to grab the package tonight. But he just needed to ask her. Work could wait a while.

Fred smiled. She didn't have the words to express how much she appreciated Wesley coming to see her. She knew that he had fought incredibly hard for her. His visit into her mind while her memories were being absorbed had spurned her on, given her the chance to resist. Similarly his visits here made her feel better, made her feel more able to get over what had happened to her. "I'd love to."

--------------------------

Calvin was sitting on the sofa watching '_Scrubs_' on the massive television. He was turning a glass, that formally had contained orange juice, in his hands. He nervously was keeping an eye on the time.

Tol'el was standing guard at the door, while Orsa was sitting at the dining table reading something.

At last the time came. At one o'clock Gibson and Gunn entered the secure apartment. Gunn was sharply dressed in his most expensive suit; the one he always wore for the first day in court. He was carrying his briefcase and a duffel back which had changes of clothes, his Gameboy, some comic-books, toiletries and other items he was taking on the trip. Gibson was in full tactical gear, his primary weapon was a P90 submachine gun.

"Ready to go?" Gunn asked Calvin.

Calvin nodded. "You guys won't let anything happen to me, right?"

"You have my word that you will be protected to the best of our ability," Gibson assured.

"I am certain that we shall arrive at the Tribunal safely," Orsa said, sounding very confident of his words.

--------------------------

There were three convoys, each comprising of three black armored limousines with blacked-out windows, protected by a formidable Humvee at the front and rear of the convoy. The convoys left the Wolfram and Hart building, each accompanied by a helicopter providing aerial support. The convoys set off in different directions across the city.

--------------------------

Calvin looked out of the window of the limo he was riding in. He was very much on edge. At any moment he expected some kind of attack. He kept picturing explosions, gunshots, knives, and all sorts of deaths that the assassin might have in store for him. He knew he wasn't going to feel better until he was through the portal to the Nem'Cyle dimension where he knew he was safe.

"Try to relax," Orsa said.

Calvin nodded. "Kinda hard to knowing that someone's trying to kill me."

"We'll be at the portal soon."

It looked like a beautiful day outside, a shame that Calvin couldn't be out there enjoying it. He sat back and took a few deep breaths, and tried not to think of the killer that was probably out there right now...

--------------------------

In a modest motel room the assassin was making final preparations for the assault.

--------------------------

"A baseball stadium!?" Calvin exclaimed as the convoy came to a stop.

"Not just any baseball stadium," Gibson grinned. "Home of the greatest team in the world."

"Dodgers fan huh?" Gunn commented.

"Oh yeah," Gibson confirmed. He clicked on his radio. "All teams, take up positions."

"I'm a Yankees man myself," Calvin said. He knew that right now was the most dangerous time. Between the limo and the portal he would be most vulnerable to attack.

"We'll just sit tight for a few minutes, we're taking another quick look around and taking positions." Gibson did his best to appear relaxed, hoping to put Calvin more at ease. "Feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Calvin replied and ran his hand over his chest and abdomen, feeling the bullet-proof jacket he was wearing under his shirt.

Gibson talked baseball, getting his thoughts away from the dangers. One by one the teams checked in and gave the all clear. "You set?" Gibson asked once all the teams had called in.

Calvin took a deep breath and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

--------------------------

The were standing right in the middle of the field. Calvin, Gunn, Orsa, Tol'el and Jack Gibson were standing, at a ten meter radius at all four points of the compass was a guard; their guns were raised, scanning their designated area.

Throughout the stadium there were security personnel, fully armed and equipped. The helicopter was circling overhead, the side door open, a solder inside manning a large machine-gun. "Two minutes," Gibson said, he was reporting the time remaining until the portal opened. Orsa had completed the opening ritual a few minutes ago, now they were waiting.

Calvin looked around, his eye darting. He certainly felt well protected, but far from safe. So many things could happen.

Gunn was going over the arrival protocols in his mind. Not knowing exactly what crime he was prosecuting was very frustrating. With Calvin so close it was difficult to keep from asking him about the case, about what it was that he had witnessed.

Gibson allowed himself a small smile. He had been in this stadium many many times before for Dodgers games. It felt really odd to be here for work.

--------------------------

The assassin was dressed in black tactical gear, facial features covered by a black ski-mask. The assassin was standing in the middle of the motel room, standing directly across from three demons.

The demons were muscular, and gray skinned. All three were holding green crystals. "The calibrations are complete," the center demon reported.

"Let's go," the assassin's voice was muffled significantly by the mask. The assassin too was holding a green crystal.

"A shame to use something so rare and valuable like this," the left demon commented, looking at his crystal.

"I've only heard stories about these things," the right demon nodded.

Unseen by the demons the assassin actually had two of the crystals, one hidden behind the other.

The three demons picked up the packages at their feet. The assassin had explained that the small cubes were part of the plan and would make them stronger, and faster as long as they were carrying them. "Don't feel any different..." the middle demon commented.

The assassin held up three fingers and counted down.

Three.

Two.

One.

The three demons crushed the crystals in their hands and vanished in a flash of green light.

The assassin began mentally counting.

--------------------------

"Thirty seconds," Gibson said. The group were looking towards the home plate, where the portal was going to form. Time was running out, if the assassin was going to attack he's have to do it now. "Twenty seconds."

A flash of green in the corner of his eye caught Gunn's attention. "Down!" He yelled to Calvin when he saw the demon.

Orsa pulled a clear glass orb from within his robes.

The demon went down, less than a second after he appeared, shot through the head and body with a total of eight bullets. More impacted the demon as he fell to the ground. Black blood sprayed out in multiple directions.

Orsa held the orb in front of him, whispering something. All eyes, apart from Orsa's, in the stadium were on the demon. "Tango down," a voice reported through Gibson's radio.

A second green flash: the demon appeared in the stands overlooking the right-field. The demon had just enough time to realize that something was very wrong before he was cut down by bullets.

"We're okay, Gunn reassured Calvin from their place lying flat on the ground. "We're okay."

Calvin's heart was racing, he looked all around, expecting a demon to appear and kill him at any moment.

Suddenly the device that the first demon had been holding exploded. The explosion was a brilliant eruption of purple and red. The flames burst out ten feet in all directions. The thundering boom made Calvin and Gunn immediately press their hands to their ears.

"Ten seconds!" Gibson yelled. Gunn couldn't believe that all that had happened in only ten seconds.

The third demon appeared just beyond second base, almost simultaneously the second device exploded.

The blast tore apart the stand, consuming two Wolfram and Hart security personnel and sending flaming seats and debris flying through the air.

The third demon looked at the scene. His employer had clearly set them up. "No!" The demon roared and then his head snapped back, the bullet entering through his forehead.

"Five seconds."

Above the home plate was the tell-tale shimmer in the air, the portal was forming. Everyone was looking nervously at the third demon. Gunn and Calvin got to their feet, the bags they had been carrying left on the ground.

"We are protected," Orsa said, holding up the orb.

"Will it hold?" Gibson asked.

"I believe so."

Just as the portal blossomed into existence the third device went off.

The group shielded their eyes as the bright flames gushed towards them. The force of the blast smashed upon the shield provided by the orb Orsa was holding. The clear orb started to cloud. Orsa watched it; once it became black the shield would fail.

Simultaneous with the explosion was another green flash. The assassin in black was lying flat on the ground at first base, head pointed towards the portal, hand stretched out and holding a fragment of paper. In a quiet whisper the assassin said the one word that was on the paper and crushed the second green crystal; vanishing instantly. Bullets impacted the ground where the assassin had been.

"To the portal!" Orsa yelled. The shield holding back the cloud of smoke and dust from the explosion. The orb was almost black, it had just been able to protect them from the explosion. The group ran.

Jack Gibson brought up the rear. In the original plan he was not supposed to be going to the Nem'Cyle dimension, but didn't feel comfortable just leaving those he was supposed to be protecting.

Calvin, Gunn, Orsa, Tol'el and Gibson dashed into the portal. The portal then closed leaving behind the Dodgers Stadium, smoke in the air, the field marred by two large craters and a hole in the stands.

--------------------------

The assassin reappeared on the floor of the motel room. The assassin stood and nodded. The first phase of the operation was done: On with phase two.


	3. Act Two

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Getting pretty disheartened by the lack of comments. Comments are a great motivator, good or bad, I'd really appreciate it if you take the time to leave a review.

**ACT TWO**

Charles Gunn's eyes snapped open. He saw a cloudless blue sky through a thin canopy of green. He squinted against the bright light. "Why did it have to be the Dodgers?!" He heard Gibson exclaim. Calvin stepped into Gunn's field of vision.

"You okay?" the young man asked.

Gunn nodded. He had a bit of a headache and his shoulder stung but he was otherwise fine. "I'm good. That was one hell of a bumpy landing though." Gunn got to his feet, dusting down his suit. "Damn, this ain't gonna be cheap to clean." He looked around. They were in a forest clearing. Over to the left was a standing stone, six foot tall and covered in runes. At the top of it was a triangular symbol. This was not how Gunn had imagined the Nem'Cyle Hall of Justice looking, obviously something had gone wrong. "Where are we?"

"I am attempting to ascertain that," Orsa replied. He had a map spread over a large tree stump.

Tol'el and Gibson were constantly looking around, both very alert. Gibson had his P90 raised, ready to shoot.

"Something went wrong with the portal," Gibson told Gunn. "We ended up here instead of where we were meant to."

"That individual in black must have somehow diverted the portal. We are definitely in our dimension through," Orsa said.

"How can you be sure?" Gibson said.

"That plant," Tol'el said. He motioned to a big plant with blue leaves and bright orange and silver flowers.

"I knew something had to go wrong, I knew it!" Calvin exclaimed. "I should have never agreed to this stupid thing. I wish I'd never seen..."

"You are here to serve justice," Tol'el interrupted sharply "No harm can come to you here," the demon reminded.

"Good point," Calvin smiled. He quickly took off his shirt, removed the bullet-proof jacket and tossed it to the ground and then put his shirt back on. "Much more comfortable."

Gibson wandered over to Tol'el. "This must have been done for a reason."

"Agreed. Our enemy will likely have a plan." Tol'el, like Gibson, was alert, ready to react.

Calvin was wandering towards the unusual plant. "I'm on another world..." he whispered. "This is so cool..."

--------------------------

Leia Hobbes was listening to music, the volume so loud it blocked out all other sounds. Her head was in the clouds, she was walking back from a lunch date; heading back to college for a class. She was sure that her boyfriend was the one, even though they had really only just met.

Suddenly she felt a sharp tug on the back of her top. She spun round, pulled out her earphones.

"Careful darlin'", the man that had pulled her back said in a strong Irish accent. As a bus rumbled by. Leia realized that she had just been about to step in front of the bus.

"Th-thank you," she said quickly, shaking her head. She couldn't believe how silly she'd been.

"No problem," the stranger gave her a smile. He turned and resumed walking down the street.

_Another life saved_, the Dark Avenger thought.

--------------------------

Orsa called everyone round. "I know where we are," he announced.

"Where are we?" Gunn asked. He was eager to get to the Tribunal especially after the attack. Everyone gathered around the map, though Gibson and Tol'el remained very much alert to their surroundings.

"Here is where were are meant to be," Orsa said and indicated a building marked at the top right corner of the map "We are here." Orsa put his finger on a triangular symbol roughly in the middle of the bottom right quarter of the map. The symbol was the same as the one on the standing stone.

"What make you think that's where we are," Gibson asked.

"These symbols," Orsa pointed to the triangle symbols: there were eight of them on the map. "They represent psychic hotspots."

"Locations for portals." Gibson nodded. "Okay, why this one specifically."

"A process of elimination," Orsa explained "First the portal at the Hall of Justice can be eliminated. These four," Orsa pointed again, "are not Earth accessible."

"That leaves these three."

"This is a place I know well, and this one is clearly right beside the river."

"So only this one is left," Gibson nodded. "How far is it to the Hall of Justice from here?" He didn't know what kind of scale the map represented.

Orsa thought for a moment. "I would suggest around eight hours."

"We need to be at the Tribunal within the next ten hours or the case is forfeit and put to the bottom of the list," Gunn said. This, he knew, would not please the Senior Partners one bit.

"We need to go immediately," Orsa said. "The only viable crossing for the river is here, about four hours from here." Orsa traced the route with his finger. "Yes, and about halfway to the bridge is a small village. We should be able to pick up some supplies there."

"Everyone needs to stay alert," Gibson urged. "I'll take point."

--------------------------

"Lorne, what can I do for you?" Dr. Kent Hartley greeted with a broad smile.

"How are the patients doing?" Lorne asked, referring to the five security personnel that had been brought in injured from the events at Dodgers Stadium.

"They should recover fully, in time," Hartley said. "But the three that got killed, I can't do anything for," he added sadly.

"Well, I came down here to ask you to put your talents to good use."

"Someone hurt?"

"Your other talent," Lorne grinned.

"Ah, what did you have in mind?"

"A good friend of mine is opening a new bar downtown, he's big on live music."

"Sounds cool."

"So he's asked me to put on a little show of the opening night, give the place a real kick-start."

"You want me to do a few numbers?" Hartley asked.

"Yes, it would be fabulous if you could."

"Sure thing, I'd love to."

"Excellent I'll let you know the details as soon as I know them."

"I'll start putting a set together," Hartley said thoughtfully

"How about you and me get together in a couple of days, knock around a few ideas?"

"Great," the doctor said. "Oh but not Thursday."

"Ooh anything exciting?" Lorne enquired.

"Just dinner..." Hartley smiled.

"Dinner?"

"While we were working to save Miss Burkle I met a girl, Kylie, she works in the Research Department. We've had lunch a couple of times and on Thursday we're having dinner."

"Well Kent you sly fox, hope it work out for you."

"Thanks."

--------------------------

"How much further?" Calvin asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Approximately ten minutes," Orsa replied once again in his calm tone.

The group were walking at a fair pace, eager to get to the village. Jack Gibson wasn't at all happy with the situation. Several times during the walk he had been certain that they were being watched. The enemy was out there, obviously waiting for the perfect moment to make his move.

There were a few things about the whole journey that he was concerned about too. First the fact that they had a fixed destination meant that the enemy knew exactly where they were headed. Secondly the bridge was the only place that they could cross the river; it was the perfect site for an ambush. The village that they were going to was an obvious stopping point, again great for a potential ambush. Ideally Gibson would have wanted to avoid the village, however they needed food, and more importantly water, for the long walk. At the moment they only had his meager rations and the canteen that he was carrying. It was not enough.

"You like being a lawyer?" Calvin asked, walking alongside Gunn.

"Yeah, most of the time anyway." Gunn was carrying his suit jacket and had his shirt sleeves rolled up.

"You must be good to get this gig huh?"

"I'm pretty good yeah, never done one of these before though."

"Me neither," Calvin said with a smile.

Orsa, who was ahead of them, slowed, clearly letting them know that he was listening, making sure that conversation didn't stray to details about the case.

"Feels weird. I mean, we're on another world here, another dimension. Every now and then I see a weird tree or an animal and I just can't believe it's real." Calvin's voice was full of wonder. "You must do this a lot right?"

"Nah, this is just my second trip off Earth. Last time didn't go entirely to plan either," Gunn sighed, recalling his time in Pylea.

Gibson suddenly froze and motioned for everyone to stop and crouch. Everyone except Gibson and Tol'el crouched low and looked around nervously.

Gibson was perfectly still, his eyes slowly scanning the forest to the left of the group. He was also listening carefully. He had caught sight of a movement in the corner of his eye. He was sure that it had been a brief glimpse of the enemy.

The assassin remained absolutely still, hardly daring to breathe, disappointed about being so sloppy and being spotted.

"See anything?" Gibson quietly asked Tol'el, glancing back to the demon.

"Nothing," Tol'el shook his head. Gibson was sure that he had seen something, but it seemed that there was nothing to be done about it.

"Okay. Let's go," he said and the group resumed walking.

The assassin breathed a sigh of relief and continued to keep a close watch on the target, knowing that the time to strike would be soon.

--------------------------

"Hello!" Orsa called as they emerged from the forest and arrived in the village. It was a very small settlement, a collection of only six buildings, all made from stone with sloped wooden roofs. Orsa had explained, somewhat vaguely the three humans felt, that this whole region had been deliberately left as nature intended so as not to upset the mystical equilibrium of the area. Further north, not shown on the map they had been consulting, were cities and other more populated settlements. "Hello there!" Orsa called again. There was still no response.

Gibson brought up his weapon and Tol'el drew his sword, both instantly sensing that something was wrong.

"Where is everyone?" Orsa said. The village seemed to be utterly devoid of life.

"Stay," Tol'el said and he headed to the closest building; a single story building.

Gibson walked slowly around Orsa, Gunn and Calvin, watching for any sign of trouble.

Tol'el emerged, a grim expression on his furry face. "They're dead. Five of them, a family. I found this," the demon held up a metal object about the size of his fist. Gibson recognized it right away.

"Gas," Gibson said, "it's a gas canister. Earth made."

"The assassin knew we'd be coming here," Gunn said, looking around the tree line behind them. Calvin too suddenly looked even more unnerved.

"Where are we picking up the supplies from?" Gibson asked.

"Over there," Orsa pointed to the next building along from the home that Tol'el had checked.

"Okay, quickly, we need to get what we need and get going as fast as possible." The group stayed very close together as they headed to the square building, a little smaller than the home. Tol'el led with Gibson on their six.

"Did they suffer?" Orsa asked. Tol'el slowed a little and looked back at his colleague, clearly he had seen an horrific scene. "Yes, there was..." His head snapped back, blood and brain matter exploding out of the back of his green-furred head.

"Get inside!" Gibson yelled, eyes searching for the source of the silent shot. Calvin paused, frozen in fear for a moment, looking down at the body of the Nem'Cyle guard.

"Move!" Gunn shouted, snapping Calvin out of his daze.

Suddenly there were two flashes on Calvin's chest and two bullets fell to the ground. This spurred Calvin on.

Gibson saw the glint of sunlight reflecting off a gun's sight. He fired a short burst at that glint. He was following the others, moving backwards, shooting every few steps in the direction of the glint. Finally he made it inside.

Gunn slammed shut the heavy wooden door. "Keep away from the windows and keep down," Gibson instructed.

"What about gas, that guy could send a canister through the window," Gunn said.

The entire building was one large room full of row upon row of shelves. There were objects and containers of all shapes and sizes on those shelves. Orsa was frantically looking around the supply building, obviously desperately searching for something.

Gibson peaked through a window near the door, looking in the direction he had seen the glint of light from. The behavior of the assassin was odd. Surely it would have made sense to take him out first since he was the more heavily armed rather then killing the guard wielding only a sword.

"I was shot!" Calvin was hysterical. "I was shot!" He clamored had his chest where the two bullets had hit him but not harmed him at all.

"You're fine, the Resi did its job, you're okay Calvin," Gunn tried to calm the man down.

Orsa was rushing from shelf to shelf.

Gibson reloaded his weapon and then risked another peak outside. There was no sign of the enemy, but the enemy was definitely out there, no doubt looking back at him right this very second.

"This is insane, this is crazy," Calvin shook his head. "Why the hell did I have to see..."

"Quiet!" Orsa snapped as he returned to the group. "Calm yourself." He was holding a glass orb in his hand, it looked like the one he'd had at Dodgers Stadium but twice the size. "I was sure I'd find one of these in here."

Gibson saw movement in the trees. He fired four shots. _Come on_, he thought, _just one look at you, one look_.

"How long do you need to get this thing running?" Gunn asked Orsa.

"A few more seconds," Orsa said and began whispering an incantation.

Suddenly a figure all in black ran out from behind a tree. Gibson opened fire, at the same time the figure also fired. Gibson's bullets impacted against the trees and foliage behind the figure. The assassin's bursts completely shattered the window, forcing Gibson to take cover, sending glass scattering across the wooden floor.

Gibson popped up again and fired, just as the figure ducked behind another tree. A couple of seconds passed, the figure stepped out, firing. Gibson tightened his finger on the trigger but hesitated as the assassin's bullets were deflected by Orsa's shield. The assassin returned to cover immediately.

Gibson turned and put his back to the stone wall. "How long will that thing hold?"

"Barring serious mystical assault, four hours. The metaphysical laws here mean they work far longer here than they would on Earth," Orsa said.

"Fine, lets take a few minutes to rest, then look at the supplies, see what we need." Gibson stood and looked over. A smattering of bullets flashed gold as they impacted the shield.

Calvin was sitting against the first row of shelves. He had his eyes closed, his arms and legs were curled in tight to his body. Gunn was sitting across from him, against the wall.

Orsa stood, leaving the orb sitting on the floor, and joined Gibson at the window. His gaze fell upon Tol'el's body. "He did not deserve to die like that," Orsa said sadly.

"Did you know him well?"

"No, not very well. I've worked with him a few times. He has a family, four children. We are a peaceful people Mr. Gibson. Tol'el understood that sometimes the price of peace is the need for warriors to protect us from those who are not so peaceful. Justice and honor are core to our society. He had both traits in great measure" They looked at the body for a few more moments. Then Orsa turned away and went off again to the shelves.

"We're trapped here," Calvin said to Gunn shakily.

"We can't stay long enough for the orb to fail," Orsa said loudly from down one of the aisles. "We have to get to the Tribunal and we've got jut under eight hours to do that."

"It's a six hour journey from here you said, so that means we need to be outta here in less that two if we're going to make it." Gibson was running ideas through his mind.

Orsa rejoined the three humans, bringing then something to eat and drink. To drink there were glass bottles of a sweet purple fruit juice. To eat they had crunchy cereal bars with some kind of fruit filling.

They ate and drank in silence.

The assassin sat back and looked at the building that the group had taken refuge in. This was not an entirely unexpected turn of events. Fortunately the assassin had a plan in place to deal with this situation.

--------------------------

"Thank you Wesley," Fred said sincerely as they arrived back at the door of her apartment. She smiled. "I really enjoyed spending time with you."

"My pleasure," Wes smiled too.

"Would you like to come in?"

Wes looked at his watch. "I...I'd love to..."

"But you need to go to work," Fred nodded, her look of disappointment made Wesley want to completely forget about his responsibilities as Head of Research. "It's okay Wes, I understand. I know how busy things are over there."

"I would leave it, but I have a meeting later tonight, and Angel wants a report on a clan of A'ter'a demons he's got a conference with tomorrow."

"Thank you for the walk. I'm gonna be over there tomorrow, Doc Hartley wants to check up on me again. Maybe I'll come by and say hi."

"Great, fantastic, excellent, yes," Wes flustered. He took a moment, composing himself, and then nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

"Okay," Wesley was fighting the urge to just step forward and kiss her.

"Right." Fred had a silly thought that he was going to kiss her and she wanted him to. _Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,_ she thought.

"Yes...I...tomorrow," Wesley said finally and made a quick retreat.

"Bye," Fred said and went into her apartment.

Wesley shook his head. He wished that the had just a little more courage to take the chance he had promised himself he would take. But what if she didn't feel the same way? The absolute last thing he wanted to do was ruin their great friendship.

Fred slumped down on the couch. Maybe, she thought, she just needed to make the first move herself.

--------------------------

"We need to come up with a plan for getting outta here," Gunn said.

"In here we're safe right? In here he can't get us. We're safe." Calvin said.

"You are safe, no matter what," Orsa reminded the witness.

"Yeah, it's us that have to worry," Gunn added, kinda ticked off by Calvin's attitude.

"Is there another way out?" Gibson asked.

Orsa shook his head. "That is the only door, the windows do not open. I doubt they are big enough anyway."

"Why don't we just stay here safe as long as we can?" Calvin was reluctant to leave, even though he knew he wasn't at risk, the prospect of any more of them getting killed was a horrible one.

"Justice must prevail," Orsa said. They couldn't stay the full time and make it to the Tribunal.

"I have to admit, staying put a while is the smart move, gives us time to rest up and come up with a solid plan," Gibson said.

"We must succeed. To fail would be to fail to see justice done. We must try, it is better to die than to allow injustice. That is the Nem'Cyle way." Orsa spoke clearly and passionately.

No one spoke for a few minutes.

"As long as that guy is out there we won't be able to leave without risk," Gibson looked at Orsa. "I'll go out, see if I can take him down. While I'm keeping him occupied the rest of you can make a run for it."

"That's crazy," Gunn shook his head. "No way."

"I'll go first," Calvin said. Everyone looked at them in surprise.

"What?" Gunn said, not quite believing what he heard.

"I can't be killed right?"

"Correct," Orsa nodded.

"Okay, okay," Calvin resolved. "He's after me, I'll go out there."

"No," Orsa said firmly.

"I think it could be workable," Gibson said thoughtfully. "Calvin makes a run. I'll cover him and hold off the assassin. The trouble is..."

"I'll get lost out there," Calvin finished the sentence.

"There may be a way..." Orsa said.

--------------------------

The assassin was waiting patiently; watching. Having scouted out the village throughly the assassin knew that there was only one way out of the building. Of course the assassin wasn't going to just wait forever, naturally preparations had been made; there was a plan in place to end this at any time. However the assassin knew that the group was planning on not waiting for long.

--------------------------

"They're ready," Orsa nodded after making adjustments to the two palm sized devices he had fetched.

"What are they?" Gunn finally asked the question the three humans were all thinking.

The two devices were identical; circular in shape that tapered to a point at the top. In the center of the device was a clear diamond-shaped crystal the size of a quarter. Orsa turned the device and stopped turning it when the crystal glowed green.

"Compasses," Gibson took a guess.

"Correct," Orsa nodded with a small smile. "When the point is aimed towards the bridge the crystal here will light up. Calvin, you will take this and use it to guide you to the bridge. We will hold off the assassin. Wait for thirty minutes after reaching the bridge. If we do not arrive by then press the crystal for a count of ten. That will change it's set destination to the Hall of Justice." Orsa handed Calvin the device. He took it and looked at it, turning it over in his hands and tested pointing it around. "This one," Orsa picked up the second compass, "is set to follow Calvin's device. We'll use it to find Calvin when we're done with the assassin."

"Great," Gibson nodded.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Gunn asked the witness.

Calvin considered it for a few moments. "Yeah, I can't be hurt. I can do it. Just run through the forest. Piece of cake."

Gunn admired Calvin's turnaround, he had formed a fairly low opinion of the witness because of his cowardly attitude earlier. He was glad to be proved wrong.

--------------------------

The assassin nodded. The small transmitter placed inside the storage building had relayed everything they had said to a small ear-piece. Under the mask the assassin smiled and then started to get ready. The assassin was modifying the plan based on the latest overheard conversation.

--------------------------

"You're going with him," Gibson said to Gunn and Orsa.

"No, we're not leaving you," Gunn shook his head. The group were getting ready to head out.

"You need to get there too if the Tribunal is going to happen," he said to Gunn.

"He is correct," Orsa nodded. "If there is no prosecutor there is no Tribunal."

"I'll hold him off as long as I can," Gibson said. "If I get him I'll catch up," he held up the compass and then tucked it into one of his pants pockets. "If not...good luck." Gunn and Gibson's eyes met. Finally Gunn nodded.

"This is how we'll do this. I'm going to go out, will use a couple of smoke grenades to give you a screen. Calvin, you run first, fast as you can. Gunn, Orsa, you follow after a couple of seconds. Stay low until you reach the tree-line and then sprint. Don't stop until you really can't run anymore," Gibson instructed.

"I could stay," Gunn offered.

"No. Take this," he handed Gunn a 9mm handgun. "Know how to use it?"

"Only since I was about ten," Gunn replied taking the weapon. He wasn't a great fan of guns, he'd seen a lot of young people killed with them during his childhood. The four of them looked around once last time at their refuge and at each other. Gunn and Orsa's eyes met. They knew that there was a fair chance one or both of them could be killed while they were making the run.

"If I am killed I trust you to do the honorable thing and not discuss the case with Calvin. I believe that you are a good man Mr. Gunn and that you will do the right thing."

"No problem," Gunn nodded. Orsa then turned to Gibson, a sad expression on his feline features.

"Thank you for giving us this chance."

"Go as fast as you can. If I don't make it he'll be right behind you," Gibson said. He knew that there was a good likelihood he was about to die. The assassin had all the advantages at the moment since he was concealed in the trees. As soon as Gibson stepped out the assassin could shoot him in the skull and end him without him ever being aware of it. He looked at the door that he was about to go through and steadied himself. He had never imagined that he might die in another dimension. That was the thing about working at Wolfram and Hart, you never knew where you were going to be sent and you never knew what situations you might find yourself in. That was something he liked about the job, the challenge, no day was the same. "Okay. Once I go out count to five and then run."On the floor in front of the window were the two smoke grenades. They would impede his vision too, but it was the only way that he could provide some cover for the escape and give him a chance to get into a good position to attack the assassin.

Gibson grabbed the first, and signaled to Orsa. Orsa had the orb in his hand and whispered a single word, the deactivation word that he had set when activating it. There was no external sign that the shield had been dropped. If the assassin struck now they would not be protected.

Gibson pulled the pin.

--------------------------

The assassin tensed. This was it. Time for action. The assassin was confident that things were going to go exactly to plan, a plan that had just been slightly modified again in the light of the fact that Gunn and Orsa were now going with Calvin.

--------------------------

Jack Gibson hurled the grenade out the window, picked up the second one, pulled its pin and threw that one out too. He then rushed over to the door and put his hand on the handle, ready to go a few moments after the first bang.

Calvin took a deep breath, he knew that he was safe from harm, but going out into such an incredibly dangerous situation was still a big psychological hurdle. He kept repeating to himself that he couldn't be hurt, that he would be okay, that the assassin couldn't kill him.

"You'll be fine," Gunn said reassuringly to Calvin, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Run fast, we'll be right behind you."

Calvin nodded.

Bang! The first smoke grenade exploded.

Gibson pulled open the door. Counted to three and signaled to the witness.

Calvin sprinted out as fast as he could. Bullets flashed as they hit the side of his head, rendered harmless by the mystical implant inside him. He ran left, straight for the trees, bullets now hitting his body. He was running, running, running. As he passed a building bullets impacted against the stone walls and shattered the windows. Calvin ran hard.

Gibson stepped out and ran right, the opposite direction that Calvin had gone. Tactical goggles protected his eyes from the smoke. He scanned the area he had last seen the assassin with his eyes, weapon raised, ready to fire.

Gunn took a deep breath and nodded to Orsa. They ran out of the storage building, Gunn going first following Calvin's path.

Gibson ran right and went behind another of the village's buildings. He noticed that one of the windows was broken where the assassin's gas canister had gone it. The extermination of the people here had been so terribly cruel, cold and calculating. This enemy needed to be taken down. He stepped out quickly and spotted the assassin, high in a tree almost completely concealed by branches and leaves. He opened fire, bullets twumping into the tree and tearing into leaves. The assassin turned and Gibson rolled right, back behind cover, the bullets hitting the building.

Calvin sighed in relief as he reached the tree-line and risked a quick look back, seeing Gunn and Orsa hot on his heels.

The white smoke was being thinned by a wind blowing it in the direction that Calvin and the others had gone. Jack Gibson peaked round the corner and glimpsed the assassin, still up in the tree. The assassin was looking right back at him, his weapon aimed. For some reason the assassin didn't fire. The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds, Gibson wasn't exactly sure what was going on, why they were hesitating. Finally Gibson fired a couple of shots, the assassin ducking back behind the tree trunk. He watched, looking through his gun's sight, ready to pull the trigger the instant the assassin showed himself.

The assassin was leaning against the tree trunk, knowing that Gibson was waiting. The assassin pulled a small device out from a pocket and thumbed off the safety catch that covered its single button.

The first press off the button armed the bomb.

In the storage building, concealed beneath one of the wooden floorboards a red light began to blink. The red light was on a detonator. It's blinking indicated that the device was armed. Connected by wires to the detonator was a brick of C4

Gibson knew something was wrong. He took his eye from the sight, watching the tree for any sign of movement. The assassin was up to something, but the more time he was kept occupied the more time the others had to get away.

--------------------------

Calvin slowed, breathing hard. Orsa came running up beside him, he seemed to be breathing almost normally. They stopped and looked back as Gunn caught up with them.

"We...We need. To. Keep. Going," Gunn puffed.

"Do you think he's doing okay back there?" Calvin looked back in the direction of the village.

"We must keep going. He will catch up if he can," Orsa said.

"Come on let's..." Gunn's words were interrupted by a thunderous boom from the village. The three of them looked back in shock.

"That could be good news right? That might have been Gibson getting him, right?" Calvin said optimistically.

"Maybe," Gunn had doubt in his voice.

"We must keep going," Orsa urged.

The two humans nodded, any with one last look back the group resumed running, Jack Gibson's fate unknown.


	4. Act Three

**ACT THREE**

"Wakey wakey Jack."

Gibson was lying on the ground, surrounded by small chunks of stone and sprinkled liberally with dust. The explosion had done massive damage to the storage building though the walls were still, just, standing. The roof however had been almost completely blown off. The force of the blast had thrown Gibson violently against the wall that he had been taking cover behind; knocking him unconscious.

The assassin was now standing over him. Quickly the assassin took his P90 and tossed it aside and then gave the downed man a kick in the stomach. "Come on, come on, get up," the assassin demanded. Jack Gibson stirred with a groan. "There you are, come on, sit up," the assassin took a few steps back, gun aimed at him. "Don't try anything stupid."

Gibson was confused and disorientated. He slowly sat himself up against the wall, taking deep breaths and trying to clear his head of the murkiness clouding his thoughts. He looked around and his eyes focused on the barrel of the gun that was pointed directly at his head. He followed the gun to the figure holding it: the masked assassin. He briefly considered attempting something, but he knew that right this second his reactions would still be a bit slow, and the assassin had taken the precaution of being just out of reach of a speedy attack. He glanced over to the smoking storage building, realizing what had happened.

He looked back at the assassin. He wondered why the assassin hadn't killed him yet, the guy had already proven himself to be a cold-blooded, ruthless individual. "If you're going to kill me get it over with," he said finally. He didn't want this to be prolonged, if he was going to die now that it was best to get it over with and not dwell on the event.

Slowly the assassin, without looking away from Gibson or turning away the weapon, took off the mask.

Gibson just stared for a few seconds, not believing what he was seeing.

The assassin it turned out was not male, but female.

It wasn't the assassin's gender though that shocked him; it was her identity. She was someone he knew well, very well.

"Mel?" Gibson just could not believe it. This couldn't be right, he was seeing things, or this was a trick, or he was still unconscious. Gibson shook his head and closed his eyes tight. But when he opened them she was still there looking down at him.

"It's me Jack, I know this is a real shock to you."

"A shock?! A shock?!"

"Breathe Jack, take a moment, accept it." The woman had black hair tied back in a ponytail, she looked calm, confident, just as always. Here hazel eyes looked at him warmly. To him she still looked as beautiful as the first time he had seen her.

Gibson tried to process it all. She was the one responsible for the destructive attack at Dodgers Stadium, the merciless murder of the Nem'Cyle villagers and for the killing of Tol'el.

"It has been a while hasn't it?"

"Five years," Gibson replied he wasn't looking at her, he was staring off into the forest. "Almost six actually."

"Not since we made it final."

Gibson looked up at the woman. Melanie Marshall. He still couldn't quite bring himself to believe that she had done all those things. Just under six years ago Jack Gibson had divorced this woman.

--------------------------

Cordelia Chase was standing on the balcony of a far from inexpensive hotel room. Paris was a city she had long planned on visiting. Back when her family were still mega-rich she'd been in France skiing a couple of times but had never been to the French capital. It was a trip that she and Harmony had spent many hours planning on doing after high school graduation. Harm's death and the suddenly disappearance of all her father's cash had ruined those plans.

She smiled as she remembered her high school days, before Buffy had arrived in particular. Before her life had taken a turn to the crazy. She had been such a royal bitch back then, and at the time had relished in the power and popularity. Mostly. Her life plan back then had been nothing more than finding an unbelievably gorgeous very rich man, marrying him and living a life of luxury. Even now that didn't sound bad, she mused with a grin.

She looked out at the beautiful city, the Eiffel Tower, brightly lit up a couple of blocks away, was spectacular. Once again she found herself trying to sort everything out in her head. Living with a monster inside her had been a truly awful experience. Everything she did last year under that creature's control made her sick to think about. She had had to just watch as the creature carried out her evil acts.

Cordelia wondered how the guys back in Los Angeles were doing. She had resisted getting in contact with them. Since leaving Angel's office, after Jake Reynolds' death, she had resolved that she needed to take time alone and away from them. Still that didn't stop her worrying about them. Their lives were dangerous.

She had to figure out what she was going to do. There were two options: The first was simple; walk away. She could avoid ever returning to Los Angeles, and never go back to the fight. With the demons, monsters and apocalypses behind her she could live a normal life. That option appealed in a lot of ways. A normal life free from constant danger would be incredible. In truth staying in the fight would mean that she would likely die one day at the hands of some evil enemy, a normal life probably meant a longer life. But she wandered if she could really do it, if she could forget it all and move on. Walking away from Angel and the others wasn't a happy prospect. She cared about them a lot, their time together had forged incredibly strong bonds of friendship. The fight too was important. People needed to fight against the evil that desperately wanted to consume the world.

Her second option then was to go back, join them at Wolfram and Hart and throw herself back into that world of violence and horror. Something about the idea of working at Wolfram and Hart felt primevally wrong to her. They were the enemy, they were cruel and vicious. From what she had seen already it was already starting to have negative effects on the team. But rejoining the fight would allow her to do incredible good, and maybe she could keep Angel on the straight path. But what if she too fell into the trap?

Cordy had set off on her travels around Europe in hope of coming up with an answer. She had been to some of the most amazing places on earth over the past few weeks. It was this wonder and beauty in the world that she, Angel, Buffy and the others all fought for.

She's gone over all the arguments in her head hundreds of times and still she had no idea which was the right decision, which was the right choice.

She yawned and glance at her watch. It was well into the small hours. Cordelia turned away from the view and went back inside her room, and got ready for bed.

Cordelia was still unsure what she was going to do, what path her life was going to take.

--------------------------

"You...you murdered all these people, families" Gibson finally said out loud to his ex-wife, unable to control his horror any more. "How could you?"

Mel shook her head. "Not people Jack, demons, soulless creatures, worthless. Don't tell me you're going soft."

"Men, women and children Mel, you killed them."

"Demons. In their sleep," she nodded, "couldn't have them mess up my plans. They had to die." Melanie's tone was utterly devoid of emotion.

Jack Gibson had no idea what to say next. He had plenty of questions for her, but he had no idea where to begin. Worst of all...she could kill him at any moment. He had never imagined that she could do anything like this, but it seemed possible now that she could pull the trigger and end his life. Back when they had been married she had worked for a private security company, mostly doing background research, observation, and providing logistical support to operatives in the field, protecting the assets of the wealthy around the world. Jack had been in the military, special-ops, their busy, highly secretive, careers meant that they'd been unable to see each other much as they progressed and were promoted. The time apart eventually tore the relationship apart, they grew to hate the fact that they never seemed to see each other, which spilled into arguments, and finally they had agreed that it wasn't working and they should get divorced.

"Hurt like hell to do that to the Dodgers though," she said shaking her head with a wry smile. Gibson didn't return the smile. Early in their relationship they had regularly gone to Dodgers games together. Compared to what she'd done to the villagers damaging the stadium was nothing, but Gibson was worried about his men, he had no idea if any of them had been caught up in the explosions. "Okay Jack, let's get down to business." Mel said. "I had a mic in there," she motioned to the smoking storage building, "so I heard everything. I want the compass."

Jack didn't move. There was no way he could let her have the compass, with it she would be able to chase the others down no matter what route they took to the Hall of Justice. "For old times sake I would really rather not have to kill you, but believe me, if your force my hand..."

She meant it, he knew her well, he could tell she was being deadly serious. "Why are you doing this?" Gibson asked. He was stalling for time, trying to give the others the best possible chance. Maybe, if he was very lucky, Mel would slip up and give him the opportunity to turn the tables. Maybe.

"For the money of course," she smiled. "I'm getting three million for this job, got my eye on a little, well huge, place in Tuscany, remember how we always talked about getting a holiday home there?"

"Why the hell are the defense so desperate to win this?" He deliberately ignored her attempt to bait him.

"I never asked. I wish we'd met up again under different circumstances. The only reason I didn't detonate while you were all in there," she indicated the storage building, "was because of you." Her words were warm. Gibson felt a mix of sadness and a strange flutter of the love he'd felt for her.

"What happened to you Mel? How'd you end up a mercenary?"

"It just happened, better pay, bigger jobs. Plus it's pretty fun most of the time." Her eyes were sparkling with passion; she really loved her work. She used to look at him like that. "The Wolfram and Hart gig must be entertaining, I did a job for them in Sydney a couple of years ago." She was talking like they weren't enemies, like they hadn't been shooting at each other. "I couldn't believe it when I saw it was you. You've made things a lot more complicated than it needed to be."

"Sorry I messed up your diabolical scheme," Gibson said, the sarcasm in his voice as thick as Scanavarn Beast blood.

"Oh don't worry about it, you know me, I always have a plan B and a plan C," Mel replied confidently.

Gibson nodded. She had always been a very prepared and organized person, always having back-up plans in place. "Don't suppose you wanna fill me in?"

"And ruin the fun? Nah."

"The portal diversion was a nice play, that teleporting trick was...something special." Gibson resolved to keep her talking, keep her here, keep her from going after the others.

"Both were very expensive, my employer actually covered all the expenses once I came up with the idea."

"On top of the three million?" Gibson raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah. This guy really wants that Tribunal to fail," Mel confirmed.

"Maybe we could work something out. I could probably hook you up with one of the Wolfram and Hart offices somewhere, anywhere."

Mel laughed, "Oh I very much doubt they'd be willing to pay my rates, and I like being my own boss too much."

"How did you get here so quick? After we went through portal I mean."

"The motel I was based at was right beside a psychic hotspot. Came through to one of the other portal sites here and then used the last of my teleport-crystals," she replied. "Now, Jack, come on, the compass. Please."

"You know I can't do that Melanie," he shook his head.

"You can give me it or I can put a bullet in your head and take it. Your choice," the friendliness was dialed down a few notches, but she her tone remained fairly convivial. "Jack I'd love nothing better than to catch up some time, please don't make me destroy that possibility." Her gun was aimed at his head.

Their eyes locked. She was serious, her threat was genuine. If Gibson gave her the compass and she let him live then perhaps he'd be able to go after her and stop her.

"Okay Mel, okay," he finally submitted.

"Take it out, slowly, try anything, I'll kill you."

Gibson nodded and very slowly he slid the device out of the pocket he had put it in.

--------------------------

"Okay." Gunn and the other two had stopped running and were now sitting on a fallen tree trunk.

Orsa had the compass. He turned it and when the crystal lit up he nodded, "That way."

"Right," Gunn looked around their surroundings. The forest was actually quite beautiful when you just sat and looked at it, and weren't running though it with a deadly assassin hot on your heals. Having grown up deep in urban Los Angeles greenery was something he greatly appreciated.

"We should press on," Orsa urged, reminding that the assassin could well be hunting them right now.

"Just another minute," Calvin said. The three of them had sprinted hard through the forest. The two humans were understandably tired by the exertion, particularly Calvin. Orsa on the other hand seemed fine, Calvin figured that the Nem'Cyle were a rather athletic bunch. "This is so crazy!" Calvin exclaimed with a nervous laugh. "A year ago I'd never heard of demons and portals and Tribunals...we are on another world." Gunn smiled at the young man.

"Never in all my years representing the Tribunal has one gone as badly as this," Orsa said quietly. "Over the centuries many have tried to disrupt the noble course of justice. In all the six thousand years of the Tribunal only eighty-nine have been forfeit. _Eighty-nine_. This is the first time one has gone wrong for me," Orsa sat up straight, an expression of resolve on his feline face. "We will make it. I will not allow the ninetieth to occur today. It is my duty to ensure justice is served."

"We'll make it," Gunn said. After a short, quiet time, he stood. "Let's go." He looked back the way they had come for a moment. He wondered who would be coming after them: Gibson or the assassin?

--------------------------

"Put it on the ground in front of you," Melanie Marshall ordered. Gibson did as instructed, putting the compass down. He considered smashing the device, stomping on it, preventing Mel from ever getting hold of it whether he was alive or dead.

"Don't even think about it Jack. I only just found out about the compass so you know I can live without it. Crawl away, move slowly," she indicated to the right with a nod of her head.

Gibson looked at the device one last time. He figured that she probably had arranged some kind of trap like the village at the bridge, since it was a required point on the route to the Hall of Justice. Finally he did as she told him, stopping about five meters away from the device.

"I'm in a quandary here," Mel sighed. "I should kill you now. I know that if I let you live you'll come after me. Maybe you'll get me, maybe you'll prevent me from completing my mission." She looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "I could offer to cut you in but...it's not your style."

"Then let me come after you then," Gibson said with a sly smile. "I know you enjoyed a good chase."

Mel returned his smile. She stepped forward, picked up the compass and tucked it away in a pocket. From a smaller pocket she took out a set of PlastiCuffs (two cable-ties with interlocking straps that were often used as a cheaper, less cumbersome alternative to handcuffs). "Here," she said and tossed them to him. "Put them on, tighten them with your teeth. Very tight."

Gibson again complied with her instructions, putting his hands through the two loops and then gripping the plastic between his teeth, pulling hard to securely bind his hands. He held his hands up and made a motion to jerk them apart, showing her that they were tight.

She picked up the compass, keeping her gun aimed at him. "Stand up." With his hands bound in front of him it wasn't easy but he managed to struggle to his feet.

Bang!

She shot him, a single bullet to the abdomen.

Gibson cried out, the sharp sting of pain flooded out from the impact point. He doubled over.

Mel rushed forward and lashed out, kicking him on the side of the head. Gibson went down. Mel ran, stooping to grab his P90 and then sprinted off in the direction Calvin, Gunn and Orsa had gone.

--------------------------

There was a loud pounding on the door.

Daniel Forest looked over from the cupboards in the kitchen to the front door. He had just got back to his small apartment going to the grocery store. He was in the middle of unpacking.

He glanced at his watch. He wasn't expecting anyone for at least another hour. Daniel put the jar of pasta sauce in his hand in the cupboard and then went to the door and opened it.

There was a bald, tall, muscular man with more than a few scars on his pale face. He was carrying a black leather briefcase. He was wearing a grubby white t-shirt and heavily stained, ripped jeans.

"You're early," Daniel gathered up the courage to say to the intimidating man.

The man shrugged. "You know the time and place?" His voice was extremely deep.

"Sure," Daniel nodded. The man handed him the briefcase.

"For the glory of Mal'Klan," the muscular man said and then turned and walked away.

Daniel closed the door. He set the briefcase on the kitchen counter next to the brown paper bag of groceries.

He started at the case. He wondered what was inside it. There was a combination lock on the latch under the case's handle. Inside there could be anything, though it was pretty much guaranteed to be something that would advance the evil schemes of the Followers of Mal'Klan.

Daniel had been running little errands; deliveries, pick-ups, for the past few weeks. He had also been attending martial arts classes, a shooting range and regular rituals of worship to the demon had had sworn to serve. All of it, including this apartment and a car, had been paid for by the Followers.

He continued to stare at the case. If only he could get a look inside it he might learn something. So far he had no idea what any of the things he had been doing were form or how much they were helping the forces of evil. Finding out what was in the case might allow him to help the fight against evil, against Mal'Klan.

Daniel ran his hands round the edges of the case. Some great secret of Mal'Klan could be inside, so close. But he couldn't get to it. He didn't know the combination and even if he did there could be additional mystical protection. He couldn't take the risk of blowing his cover for something that might not be of any use at all.

Tonight he would make the delivery and continue waiting for the chance to do some good.

--------------------------

Malanie Marshall was sprinting through the forest, zig-zagging, taking random twists and turns in her route, ensuring that if Jack tried to follow he would not be able to.

She stopped for a moment, crouching on the ground. She stripped down the P90, braking it apart. She tossed the magazine away, picked up the rest of the parts and resumed her sprint. Every few minutes she threw away one of the weapon's components. There was no way that Jack would be able to reassemble it.

Once she had thrown it all she stopped again, took out the compass and turned in a circle until the crystal in the middle of the device glowed green. Mel smiled. "Here Calvie, Calvie, Calvie," she said quietly.

--------------------------

Jack Gibson sat up, catching his breath. His abdomen just below his right row of ribs stung terribly. That was where the bullet had hit, prevented from entering his body by his tactical vest.

It still hurt though. A lot.

Mel. He had to stop her. He had to go after her. His mind was racing. Mel! Mel was a cold-blooded assassin! The more he thought about it the more he struggled to believe. She had always been calm and professional when working; he had admired that quality in her. She was a woman of focus, always striving forward. Her drive too had been something that he had appreciated in her.

Now though the bad aspects of those qualities were a powerful force for darkness in her. Back when he had known her she had been well-balanced; her strength balanced with a kindness and warmth. That warmth was still there, he'd seen it during their conversation, but...the balance was gone. Her ambition had taken her down a dark road.

He shook his head and took a few deep breaths. He knew that he couldn't allow himself to see her as his ex-wife, the woman he had loved so deeply. He had to see her as an assassin who was determined to kill the man that he had been charged to protect. She was just another enemy like any other.

Gibson asked himself if he would be able to kill her if it was the only way to stop her. No. No. He shook his head. There was no point in such distracting thoughts, he had to concentrate.

He brought his knees up to his chest. He rolled up his left pants leg, revealing the ankle holster for a knife. Carefully he used the tips of his fingers to slide the three-inch bladed knife out of the holster. He took it, gripping it between his palms and fingers. Gibson held it with the blade pointed towards him and with the extremely sharp edge of the blade he began to saw through the PlastiCuffs binding his wrists.

It took him a few minutes of patient work to free his hands. Once he accomplished the task he put the knife back in the holster and pushed himself up to his feet, grimacing at the sting from where Mel had shot him. He tried to picture Orsa's map in his mind's eye. His best bet would be to head through the forest until he reached the river. Once there he should turn right, following it to the bridge.

Jack Gibson readied himself. He would have to run the whole way. Even if he got there as quickly as he could there was little hope of beating Mel, and without his weapon there was little chance of him being able to take her down. To stop her he would have to use the element of surprise to maximum advantage.

He started running, pushing through the ache from his abdomen.

--------------------------

"How long to the bridge?" Gunn asked.

"Approximately an hour I believe," replied Orsa. The three of them were walking through the forest at a quick pace, there were times when they were practically jogging. The prospect of the pursing assassin was proving to be quite the motivator.

--------------------------

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce had two of the large Template books and his laptop on the table in front of him. He was working away hard on his report on the A'Ter'a clan for Angel. As he was typing up the report he found his thoughts regularly drifting back to that moment at Fred's door. He regretted not taking the opportunity to just tell her. He couldn't go on like this much longer, stuck in a limbo, not knowing how she felt.

"Wes?"

Wesley looked up and saw Angel standing on the other side of the desk.

"You okay?" Angel asked.

"Yes...I...was just trying to figure out this passage," he indicated one of the books.

"How's that report going?" Angel was more than a little nervous about tomorrow's meeting. It had the potential to be very important for the firm. "I really don't want to make an ass of myself."

"This specific clan does have some of the strictest rules of etiquette," Wesley said.

"Great. Glad I didn't have anything better to do tonight," Angel sighed, learning demon social skills was far from the top of his list of 'things that are fun'.

"Generally they will be a little lenient in casual conversation, as long as you don't do anything seriously offensive like look at their ears."

"Their ears?"

"Oh yes, they're very protective of their ears. Your greeting and farewell must be absolutely perfect too. Be very careful not to blow it at the end. Get the goodbye wrong and any dealings will be ruined."

"I'll try and keep that in mind."

"If this clan makes a deal with as many other A'ter'a clans will follow."

"It'll be good to have human-friendly demons making a show of working with us." Angel was very aware that this deal could be a real signal to the supernatural community that Wolfram and Hart Los Angeles had truly changed into a force for good.

"About the Canary..." Angel said using the codeword for discussing Imogen.

"Maybe, hoping for developments later."

"Fine. I'll let you get finished with the report," Angel motioned to the laptop.

"Should be done in couple of hours or so."

--------------------------

After forty minutes of solid running Jack Gibson reached the bank of the river. He bent forward, hands on his thighs, taking deep breaths. He knew that despite his aching legs he had to keep pushing on. He looked to the right, along the stony river bank. He started walking. He looked out at the running water; it was flowing in the direction that he was going. The river was about twenty-five meters across. From the looks of things the river got pretty deep a couple of meters from the bank.

He breathed in a very controlled fashion, eying the river thoughtfully. The constant rhythm of the running had allowed his mind to wander. Naturally his thoughts were of his ex-wife. He thought of everything from their wedding day to their early dates. Mel had changed so much since those wonderful days of romance. They had been so happy, so in love back then...where had it all gone wrong? How had it come to this madness?

Gibson reminded himself that any good times with her were far in the past. In a very short time he could well be forced to kill her.

He stopped walking. The river. In his high school days he had been a state swimming champion. The flowing water would add some much needed speed to his race to the bridge...

--------------------------

Orsa had the compass held out in front of him, the crystal shining green. "We should be at the bridge any time now," he said.

"'Bout time," Gunn sighed, "feels like we've been walking around forever." The forest had become a seemingly endless expanse. Gunn and Calvin were tired and eager for this trek to finally be over. The bridge signaled significant progress in their journey.

"I can hear the water," said Calvin. Gunn listened and sure enough with every step the sound of running water got louder.

A few minutes later they emerged from the forest into a large area where the ground was covered in dark pebbles. The bridge, spanning the river, was directly in front of them. It was a simple wooden structure, wide enough for five, maybe six, people to go across it side by side. Four thick pillars, made of wood, were on both the left and right sides of the bridge's length, so that the bridge was effectively divided up into three even sections.

"Right, let's take a break. Hopefully Gibson will be catch up with us before we get going again," Gunn said. He sat himself down on a large rock that was halfway between the treeline and the bridge.

Orsa looked into the forest. "Perhaps it would be wise to keep going."

"He stayed behind to give us a chance, we owe it to him to wait," Calvin said.

"He can join us a the Hall of Justice, waiting is dangerous, the assassin could still be pursuing us."

"He's got a point," Gunn agreed. Then he nodded, "a couple of minutes rest and we'll keep going."

Orsa took out of of the think glass bottles of the purple fruit juice that he had brought along in his satchel. He pulled out the stopper, took a swig and then handed the bottle to Calvin.

Charles Gunn rested his hand on the gun in his waistband, hidden beneath his untucked shirt. He hoped Gibson had been victorious. He didn't know the firm's Head of Security well but having worked with him a few times he knew he was definitely was one of the good guys.

Gunn took the bottle when Calvin offered it. He sighed and slumped down on the rock. He took a drink, the liquid was cool and refreshing.

--------------------------

Melanie Marshall followed the direction indicated by the compass. She had been running as hard as she could the whole time, only slowing now that she was sure that she was getting close.

She concentrated on controlling her breathing and regaining her cool; she wasn't going to show the enemy any sign of fatigue, or other weakness. Mel hoped that Jack would not attempt to interfere further. His presence had already forced her to bring her contingency plans into play. She had rarely found herself reluctant to kill an enemy. She prided herself on being a cool, calm professional. Killing was nothing big to her anymore. Demons were nothing, no more morally troubling to her than crushing a cockroach underfoot. Soldiers, bodyguards, security personnel, were all fair game; they knew the risks of their professions and took them willingly. The money definitely dulled an twitches of moral uncertainty when it came to targets. Their lives were hers to take. If she didn't do it some other mercenary would. They were dead either way, so she might as well be the one to profit from the event.

Jack though...the idea of killing him caused a hollow feeling in her stomach. She'd never imagined going up against him like this. Leaving him alive had been a tactically unwise move. If he tried to get in her way she still might be forced to kill him.

Mel could hear the river now. She was definitely getting close to her prey. She paused for a moment, breathing in deeply, the sweet scent of nearby blossoms bringing a smile to her face. She checked her weapons and other equipment. Then she resumed moving closer and closer to her target.

--------------------------

Gibson quickly stripped off his tactical-gear, dropping everything except his t-shirt and pants. He sat to take off his boots, leaving his knife holstered at his ankle.

He took a few deep breaths and then stepped into the water. He gasped at the sudden cold that sent a chill from the toes of his right foot to the top of his spine. Goosepimples quickly formed on his skin. He panted and moved forward, walking into the river. He was briefly surprised by the force of the current. Once at waist depth he pushed himself onto his front.

Jack Gibson swam toward the deeper water of the middle of the river and with powerful strokes began his journey. He fell into a strong rhythm, breathing steadily. He had no idea how far he had to go.


	5. Act Four

**ACT FOUR**

"Oh..." Calvin gasped. Gunn looked at him. There was a white flash on the young man's forehead. Gunn spun, standing as he did, spotting the assassin at the treeline, weapon raised. Gunn was surprised to see the assassin unmasked as a woman.

"Move and I'll kill you," the assassin said. She looked at Calvin. "If you move I'll kill them."

Gunn immediately thought of the gun Gibson had given him. Maybe he could kill the assassin with it. He dismissed the thought as madness; if he went for it he knew that he'd be dead before his hand even made it to the weapon.

Mel stepped closer to them, flicking her eyes between the trio, just in case any of them were stupid enough to try anything.

"Let them go, it's me you want," Calvin said, he had a plan forming in his mind. All he had to do was get close to her and attack her. Since she couldn't kill him he could overpower her and the others could then help.

"What happened to the guy who stayed behind to fight you?" Gunn feared the worst, but he wanted to know for sure.

"I killed him. Bullet to the head. He put up a good fight."

Gunn tried not to show any sadness at this news.

"Monster," Orsa whispered at the cruel woman who had mercilessly killed the villagers and Tol'el.

"Coming from you that's pretty funny," Mel smiled, pointing her weapon at him as the demon stepped forward, feline features contorted into an expression of rage. "Just give me an excuse to end you."

Orsa bared his teeth at her but remained quiet. His eyes promised violence if she gave him the opportunity.

"Now if you all do exactly as I say everything will turn out just fine," Mel continued to speak calmly, every word clear.

Gunn was going through countless scenarios in his mind. Letting this woman ruin the Tribunal was something he could not allow to happen. He couldn't just let Calvin die. How she planned to do the deed was a mystery. Presumably she had some way, a spell or other mystical method, to disable to Resi and allow her to execute him. There was a chance that when she was doing that he would be able to get her. He had a feeling though that she was fully prepared and would not make any simple errors like that.

"You two, get close together," Mel indicated Gunn and Orsa. The two complied. "Sit." They sat side by side on the large rock. "Calvin, go to the bridge, do not step onto it. If you run I will have to kill your friends before coming after you."

Calvin and Gunn shared a look "Run, don't worry about us. Run," Gunn said.

"Do exactly what I said. Do not be stupid."

Calvin looked to the assassin. He saw his fate in her eyes. She was going to kill him, despite the efforts of his protectors and the mystical object inside him. Part of him really wanted to run, get away from her. He looked back at Gunn and Orsa. He couldn't just sacrifice them. If he did what the assassin said maybe he's be able to put his plan to overpower her into action. He slowly walked over to the end of the bridge.

Mel moved methodically in a wide arc, her weapon trained on Orsa and Gunn.

"Justice will find you," Orsa said to her. Melanie ignored the demon's comment. Part of her now was almost hoping for Jack to come crashing through the trees, eager to save the day. She didn't want to hurt him or fight him. She just wanted to see him one more time before this was over. Once the mission was complete it was unlikely she would be seeing him again anytime soon.

As she walked round towards the bridge she was vulnerable. If Jack attacked from behind now there was a strong chance that her target would run, forcing another pursuit.

Ten meters from Calvin she stopped. "Calvin I want you to walk halfway across the bridge. Usual drill." She gestured threateningly at the lawyer and the demon. She was fully in control, the situation developing strictly to her plan. This brought her a feeling of satisfaction.

With Calvin standing on the bridge she moved to the end of it, positioned side on so she could keep an eye on Gunn and Orsa without turning her back on Calvin.

Gunn felt the 9mm pistol in his waistband, sure that to the assassin it was as obvious as a beacon. He watched her carefully. She never took her eye off him for long enough. He didn't have enough time to take out the weapon, aim and fire before she would shoot first. It was frustrating having the solution to the problem so close and yet beyond his reach.

--------------------------

Jack Gibson was aching all over. The exertion of the swim, especially since it had been preceded with such a grueling run, was truly taking its toll on his body.

He stopped swimming, treading water and allowing the current to carry him along. His arm and leg muscles screamed for an end to the punishment he was putting them through.

And then something caught his eye. He swam to the bank, the one opposite from where he had entered the water.

In his mind a piece fell into place, he realized how Mel was planning on killing the witness. After pulling himself out of the water and back onto land he took a couple of minutes rest, thinking his idea through. He looked back to the object that had caught his attention. Yes. Gibson was certain that he was right, and that meant that there might be an opportunity to stop Melanie after all.

--------------------------

After ten minutes of careful instruction and maneuvering Mel had everyone exactly where she wanted them.

Melanie and Calvin were on the far side of the bridge. Orsa and Gunn were standing halfway across it. Mel remained at a safe distance from Calvin. She was no fool. She knew that given the Resi he would be feeling pretty invincible by now. He was probably thinking he could take her down and suffer no consequences. She was about to demolish that hope.

From a pocket she took out a detonator, identical to the one she had used to trigger the storage building explosion. She held the device up nice and high. "This is a detonator," she called loud enough for Gunn and Orsa to hear. "The bridge is rigged with C4, more than enough to completely destroy it." Mel paused, letting the information sink in. She looked into Calvin's eyes. "If you try anything I will kill them."

Calvin nodded his understanding.

Mel now raised her voice again. "There are now sensors active," she said and she pressed the button on the detonator.

Gunn and Orsa looked down. They saw nothing unusual but a repeating 'beep beep beep' noise was coming from somewhere below their feet, under the planks of the bridge's floor.

"If you walk too far towards the ends of the bridge the bomb will go off. If you go over the sides, the bomb will go off. I recommend you two stay within about five meters of where you are standing now."

Gunn and Orsa shot each other a look. They were trapped. The assassin had Calvin and there was nothing they could do about it. Gunn once again thought about the weight of the gun. It was practically calling to him, he had to resist the notion of using it.

"We have failed," Orsa said.

Gunn opened his mouth but no words came. This whole mess had left him utterly helpless. The enemy was fast and smart. Neither Gunn's fighting skills or his mental upgrades were of any use right now. Helplessness made him feel sick. The idea of failure was something he could never ever deal with. He looked along the floor of the bridge. Maybe he'd be able to disable the explosives.

"Let's go," Mel motioned for Calvin to walk, going left from the bridge into the forest. Calvin looked back one last time. Then he walked. Mel followed.

Gunn and Orsa watched until they went out of sight. Gunn balled his fists and worked his jaw. That woman was a real piece of work. He couldn't just accept that she had beaten them.

"The witness may be lost...but you must reach the Tribunal. If the prosecutor fails to attend it will be forfeit. If you get there it will still take place, though your case will be significantly weakened." Orsa was looking around quickly. There had to be a way for justice to prevail. "That woman!" Orsa hissed.

"Unless you know anything about disarming bombs then we're stuck here," Gunn said.

--------------------------

Mel was watching Calvin. She knew it was only a matter of time before he started to realize that his life was nearing an end. Once that happened the need for survival would kick in and he'd start to worry more about himself rather than his companions. Then he might try something. She couldn't allow that to happen. "Keep walking, do not turn around but listen carefully."

Calvin was desperately aware that every step he took was a step towards the end of his life. After everything that he had been through today he couldn't just let her do this.

"Calvin I want you to know something," Mel said. Everything she said was very deliberate, designed to ensure the young man's attention. She needed him to understand, and more importantly, believe, every word. "I'm not going to kill you."

Calvin slowed very slightly. She had his attention.

"My orders are to prevent you from making it to the Tribunal, that is all." For about a minute she said nothing more. She didn't want to spoil this by moving too quickly.

"Really?" Calvin finally asked.

"Really," Mel replied firmly. "The defense wants me to take you far away from the Tribunal. As long as you don't make it there my boss will be happy."

Another minute or so of silent walking.

"What about the people you killed?"

"I haven't killed anyone. Demons aren't people, they don't have souls, they're just creatures. They are not people."

"What about the security guy? You said you shot him."

"I left him alive. That was just to scare you," Mel smiled a little to herself. That part was at least true.

"What about back there at the bridge?"

"Once the Tribunal's ruined they will be released unharmed. Calvin this is about making sure that the Tribunal fails. I will only harm people if you do not cooperate. Let's make a deal, okay? If you cooperate no one dies." She wasn't aiming her weapon at him, there was no point since the bullets couldn't harm him.

The young man didn't respond.

"Calvin. Lives are in your hands. Think about it carefully. If the Tribunal is ruined what would be the point of killing you? Of killing anyone?"

Calvin stopped and turned around. Mel stopped too, meeting his gaze. "I never wanted any of this you know, I never wanted to see that...the killings."

"You can go home Calvin. You have a family?"

Calvin nodded. "My parents. They don't know anything about all this. They'd freak out."

"A girlfriend?"

"Kind of."

"Then let's get through this with no trouble. Keep walking, follow my instructions and no one will die. I promise you."

"I just...want to go home. I want this to be over."

"It will be over soon Calvin, I guarantee it."

--------------------------

"Can you see anything?" Orsa asked.

Gunn was on the floor of the bridge, trying to peer through the cracks between the planks. "No, nothing," he replied. He pushed himself flatter on the ground, pressing his eye to the crack. He shifted along, looking down through another crack. He saw nothing but a think strip of running water. "Nothing. She wouldn't have set this up so it's possible to get to the bomb from here anyway." He moved along the crack, looking for a wire or anything else that might help.

They had already thoroughly investigated the three sites where the bleeping seemed to be coming from.

Gunn sat up. "There's nothing we can do." He hated to say it but it was truth; there was no way out.

"No. We cannot just give up," Orsa said. He began pacing back and forth. "'He who gives up on justice gives up on life.'"

Gunn thought from a minute and shook his head. "There's nothing."

"There must be!" Orsa snapped. "The Tribunal is at the very core of our society. If it is forfeit it is a great disaster for my people. We must reach the Hall of Justice. We must make it!"

"We're trapped, unless you got any new ideas."

"We should run, or go over the side." Orsa looked over the rail down at the water. "If we jump we might make it."

Gunn certainly didn't think that was even close to a good idea. "There's no way that'll work, it would be suicide."

Orsa continued staring at the water. The bleeping of the the devices under the bridge was constant. "Are we meant to stay forever then?"

"Wolfram and Hart or your people will send a rescue party," Gunn said. "We just have to wait it out."

"Unacceptable. Unacceptable," Orsa refused to give up.

Gunn looked down again at the floor. The fact was there was no way out.

--------------------------

Calvin, closely followed by Melanie, was now walking along the bank of the river. He was wondering exactly where they were going. He was feeling drained. He'd walked more today then any other day in his life. "Can we stop and rest awhile?"

"No. We're nearly there," Mel replied.

"Where are we going?"

"It's not far."

Calvin expected that she was lying, and that they still had a long journey ahead of them. However fifteen minutes later they entered a clearing. At the edge of the clearing, right on the river was a standing stone. Six foot tall, covered in runes with the triangular portal symbol right at the top.

"This is one of those...portal sites," Calvin said.

"Yes," she confirmed. "It will take us far far way, it will take us home, and once we've used up this hotspot they won't be able to follow." She let go of her gun, allowing it to hang by its strap. She kept hold of the detonator though in her left hand. With her right hand Mel took out a folded piece of paper. "Once through you'll be free to go," she said, unfolding the paper to reveal the words that would open the portal to Earth.

Calvin looked at her as if trying to tell from her expression whether or not she was telling the truth. "Really?" Maybe everything was going to be okay after all. He knew exactly what he was going to do when he got back. He was going to have a cheeseburger with everything, and fries, and a beer. Then he was going to call his parents, his friends and that girl he liked. He'd tell them all how much he cared about them and how glad he was to have them in his life. Getting home had seemed impossible, but now, it was just a few minutes away.

"Really," she nodded. "So I better get on with it, huh?" She flashed him a grin.

Calvin smiled nervously.

She held up the paper in front of her and started reading aloud.

To Calvin it sounds like gibberish, as there was a distinct lack of vowels. He thought about attacking her. He could do it. He could attack her and then run. But that would leave Gunn and Orsa to her mercy, and him trapped, lost in a demon dimension. He decided against that course of action. He was going home, this was all going to be over. He didn't want to ruin that with some stupid action.

--------------------------

Jack Gibson was hiding in a thick cluster of dark bushes with bright yellow flowers, that was almost directly behind Mel, at the edge of the clearing. He knew that he had to time his move perfectly; he would only get one shot at stopping her. He was holding the knife in his right hand, contemplating exactly what he was going to do.

The smartest thing would be to kill her, quickly before she could do anything to save herself and fight back.

But Jack didn't want to kill her. He decided that if it was at all possible he would try to avoid that outcome.

--------------------------

Just in front of the standing stone the air began to shimmer. Mel continued to speak, her words quick and clear; she was eager to get this over with and collect her fees for a job well done. The wind picked up and the shimmering area sparked with multicolored arcs of energy. With a loud rumble and a flash the portal flourished into existence.

Mel smiled.

Jack made his move; rushing forward, using the noise of the portal and his skills at moving stealthily to cover the sound of his approach. He grabbed his ex-wife, the knife going to her throat.

Mel froze and cursed herself for letting her emotions get in the way of the mission. She should have killed him when she had the chance, letting him live had put the whole operation in danger. Now, at the last moment, the decision to let him live had come back to bite her on the ass. "Hello honey," she said.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" Gibson held her tight, knife just touching the vulnerable flesh of her throat, ready to slice into her jugular. "Drop the gun on the ground, very slowly,"

Calvin had no idea how to react. He looked to the portal, his way home. It was just a few meters away, he could get there before either of them could stop him.

"Don't. If you go all of this was for nothing," Gibson said to him. "Mel, drop the gun." Mel slowly freed the weapon from its straps and allowed it to drop to the ground. Inside her was a rage, directed at herself and at the man she had once married. Anger wasn't going to do any good right now. "Kick it away," Gibson said. Mel did.

"If you don't release me I'll kill your friends," Mel said, it was the only play available to her.

"She's got them trapped on the bridge, it's rigged with explosives," Calvin said.

"Drop the detonator," Gibson ordered.

"Let me go or they're dead," she countered.

"Drop the detonator Mel, it's over, no matter what you do. This is done."

"You two know each other?" Calvin asked.

"We used to be married," the two of them replied in unison.

"Calvin you can go, get away, go through the portal," Mel said.

"Stay," Gibson glared. "Believe me Mel this is over and if you don't want this to end with you dead you will drop the detonator."

Mel recognized his his tone. He was deadly serious. It was a tone she knew well from the months leading to the breakdown of their marriage. "I'll kill them Jack."

"If you do anything other than drop that detonator I'll have to kill you. Don't make me."

Mel's thumb hovered over the button on the detonator. The threat of it was the only thing she had, the only point in her favor. Giving it up would be giving up on her mission, admitting defeat.

"Mel, this is the last time I'll ask." Gibson pressed the knife harder, breaking the skin, a thin trickle of blood started running down her neck.

Melanie Marshall looked at Calvin. She had come so close to making a success out of this mess.

The detonator dropped to the ground.

"Thank you," Gibson said.

"What now Jack?"

"What kind of set up do you have at the bridge?"

"Nothing. I put a couple of little noise-makers under the bridge. There are no explosives."

"That the truth?"

"Yes. It was just a little back-up," she replied.

"She wasn't going to kill me," Calvin said, he motioned to the portal. "She was going to take me to Earth."

"Where the Resi doesn't work," Gibson pointed out. The moment he had seen the stone marking the portal site it had come together. Taking the witness back to Earth was the only way of killing him.

Calvin's eyes widened. She had lied, she had been going to kill him after all. He had almost gone willingly back with her, where she could kill him.

"Sorry Calvie," Mel smiled. "I would have made it quick if that's any consolation."

Jack kicked the back of her knee then quickly punched her hard on the side of the head. Mel flopped to the ground, unconscious. He kicked her in the ribs, making sure she wasn't faking. Jack Gibson looked down at his ex-wife for a few moments. She looked peaceful, beautiful. He wondered what things would have been like if they hadn't given up, if they had somehow managed to hold things together.

He grabbed her under the shoulders and dragged her to the portal. Gibson pulled her up. "Bye Mel," he said and pushed her into the portal.

--------------------------

Over three hours later, after a final long, and hurried trek through the forest Charles Gunn was incredibly relieved to see the massive stone building. It was an impressive structure with an elaborately decorated arch over the large wooden doors at the entrance. There were two guards at the entrance, who looked glad to see them. Over to the left was a portal marker, indicating where they should have arrived after departing Dodgers Stadium.

"We made it," Gunn could hardly believe it.

Orsa led the way up the grey stone steps to the Hall of Justice. The three humans ascended lethargically, exhausted by the journey. Gunn shook his head as he realized that the moment he stepped through the doors the hard work of prosecuting the Tribunal would begin. He hoped that the case wasn't too complex because he definitely couldn't handle a long session in court.

--------------------------

Wesley was sitting in a black sedan parked across the street from the address in a quiet suburban neighborhood where Daniel was scheduled to make his delivery.

On the seat beside him was a black ski-mask and a Colt .45 revolver.

He looked at the clock on the dash, Daniel was due in the next couple of minutes. Wesley pulled on the mask, checked the gun was loaded, and held it in his right hand. Imogen had sent a picture of Daniel to his cellphone so he could identify him, a picture Wes had deleted after committing the face to memory.

Wesley felt apprehensive and a little excited. In a few minutes he would finally have made a move against Mal'Klan's group and hopefully have something of real use that would help uncover what they were up to.

An old, beat up green Cadillac was approaching. Wes gripped the door handle. As the car got closer he saw Daniel sitting in the front passenger seat. The driver was another young man with short hair.

It was time.

The Cadillac stopped, the engine turned off.

Daniel and the driver got out of the car. Daniel was carrying a briefcase.

Wesley got out of his car and sprinted across the street. "Stop!" he commanded, brandishing the gun. The driver reached for his waistband. Wesley didn't hesitate, he fired. The driver went down, struck in the chest by the bullet.

Daniel froze. Wesley aimed the gun at him. "The case!"

"I...I can't," Daniel protested. The young man knew that the consequences would be bad if he lost something that he was supposed to deliver for the group.

"Hand it over!"

"They'll kill me!"

Wes struck Daniel on the left temple with the butt of the gun. Daniel fell against the car and bounced to the ground. Wesley grabbed the case; blood was seeping from the wound on Daniel's head. Wes and Imogen had agreed that Daniel being injured would hopefully prevent him drawing suspicion.

A sudden series of bangs caused Wes to duck behind the Cadillac. He peaked over the hood and saw a short man in boxer-shorts and a white bathrobe had emerged form the house. He had a pistol in his hand. The man fired again, the bullets hitting the side of the car and punching through one of the windows.

Wesley kept low. He went right, scrambling over Daniel, towards the back of the car. He pressed himself flat of the ground, looking under the car. He saw the man's legs. Wesley took aim and fired, hitting the left leg just above the knee. The man collapsed. Wes gripped the case tight in his hand and ran back to his car. He got in, threw the case on the passenger seat, and quickly drove away.


	6. Envoi

**ENVOI**

"I see. I will be in contact soon with further instructions." Adrian Wallace ended the call and put his cellphone on the coffee table in front of him. He had been relaxing in his luxurious hotel room before the receiving the call. It had been one of the followers informing him that a briefcase had been stolen.

Wallace poured himself a scotch and quickly drank it. Before he could consider the news further there was a knock at the door.

"Come," he said. "Ah yes, do sit down," he motioned to the couch across from the one he was sitting on.

Melanie Marshall sat. Her hair was neatly tied back, she was wearing tan slacks, a green blouse, and comfortable shoes. The outfit was far removed from the gear she had worn on the mission. "I am sorry to report I failed. The target was not killed."

"Unfortunate," Wallace nodded once, his expression and tone giving away no emotion. "I trust their journey was made significantly difficult."

"It was, but..."

Wallace cut her off by raising his hand. "I don't need the details. You shall receive half of your fee. It will be in your account by tomorrow afternoon."

Half! Mel hadn't been expecting to receive any payment for the failed mission. "That's very generous of you."

"An individual of your talents is to be valued," Wallace said. "I expect complete discretion. And I may call upon your services again one day."

Mel nodded.

"That will be all," Wallace dismissed.

Mel stood and left the room.

Wallace poured himself another drink, sat back and smiled to himself. It was a bit of a shame that the Tribunal hadn't been ruined, but in the grand scheme it was trivial, he didn't care about it at all. What mattered was making things difficult for the good people at Wolfram and Hart. That objective had been achieved.

--------------------------

It took four hours to break through the mystical seals guarding the briefcase. Finally Wesley had it sitting on his desk, unlocked. He opened it. Inside was a red folder. He took out the folder and carefully removed its contents.

There were five very aged looking pieces of paper. The writing on them were not in a language that Wesley immediately recognized. It looked like they were pages from a book. At the top of each of the five pages was a semi-circle with a little triangle underneath it, a triangle above it and a shaded circle within it: the symbol of Mal'Klan. Clearly then they were related to the ancient demon.

It was getting late.

Wesley decided to stay and get started on figuring out what the pages meant anyway.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As always thank you for reading, please do leave a comment, comments are much appreciated.

In particular I'm interested how the episode is received in that it did place some focus on my character Jack Gibson.

5X6: THE DARK AVENGER: A mysterious figure named the Dark Avenger is fighting the fight on the streets of Los Angeles, helping the helpless. And Cordelia is back in town to reveal her decision about her future...


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